Understand what buyers and investors will question before a sale or capital raise begins. AKF Partners assesses your technology, identifies material risks, and helps your team prepare the evidence and remediation plan needed for diligence.
A buyer will test whether your platform, engineering organization, and operating practices can support the growth plan. Unsupported scalability claims, unresolved security issues, and unclear AI capabilities can create additional questions and uncertainty during diligence.
AKF helps private equity sponsors, founders, and management teams evaluate those issues before a transaction. We connect technical findings to business implications, identify what needs attention, and help management explain the current state accurately.
Our sell-side work supports owners preparing a technology business for sale, sponsors planning a portfolio company exit, founders and management teams raising growth or venture capital, and executives who need an independent assessment before approaching investors. We can also work with a company's transaction advisors to align technology preparation with the sale or fundraising process.
The same preparation applies before a growth equity, venture, or private equity investment. Investors run their own technical due diligence and ask the same questions about scalability, security, AI, and key-person risk. We help you find and address gaps before the raise and prepare management to answer investor questions with evidence.
Vendor technical due diligence is another term for diligence commissioned by the seller; you may also hear it called pre-diligence or a technology self-assessment. An internal readiness assessment and a report intended for prospective buyers serve different purposes; we agree on the audience and intended use before work begins.
The depth of each area reflects the company, transaction, and agreed scope. Findings identify the evidence reviewed and material limitations.
The engagement defines the deliverables and intended audience before assessment begins. Depending on scope, these include:
An assessment commissioned by the seller must remain evidence based. Material issues should be explained accurately, including their business implications and the plan to address them.
Buyers need to understand what AI contributes to the product and whether that contribution is sustainable. We assess relevant capabilities, data access, model dependencies, evaluation practices, and operating costs. We also examine how AI could change the product's competitive position.
Where relevant, AKF's five-level agentic development maturity model helps explain how engineering teams use AI and what evidence supports claimed productivity gains. The assessment reflects actual practices and outcomes.
If the sale is 12–18 months away, an early assessment gives the team time to address structural issues and demonstrate progress. If the process is closer, focus on material risks, the evidence buyers will request, and a credible plan for work that will continue after the transaction.
Already in a sale or fundraising process? We can discuss a focused scope aligned with the remaining schedule and available management time.
We first agree on transaction objectives, report audience, scope, and access to evidence. Focused management sessions and document review establish the current state. We then discuss findings with management to resolve factual questions and prioritize action. Remediation leadership and transaction support can be scoped separately.
Timing and fees depend on the number of products, architecture complexity, evidence availability, management access, and intended use of the report. A focused readiness assessment has a different scope from remediation leadership or a report for prospective buyers. We agree on deliverables, fees, and the delivery schedule before work begins.
AKF combines technology assessment with experience leading engineering organizations. When the review identifies work that needs to happen, we can help set technical direction, establish accountability, and lead execution alongside your team.
Sell-side technical due diligence is an assessment commissioned by a company or its owners before a sale or capital raise. It evaluates technology, teams, and operating practices so the company can identify risks, prepare evidence, and explain the business accurately to prospective buyers or investors.
Exit readiness is preparation: finding gaps, prioritizing remediation, and getting management ready for buyer questions. Vendor technical due diligence typically produces a seller-commissioned report for prospective buyers; the intended audience and permitted use should be agreed before assessment begins.
Starting 12–18 months before a planned sale can provide time to address structural risks and demonstrate improvement. Companies with less time should prioritize material issues, missing evidence, and a credible plan for work that will extend beyond the transaction.
AKF scopes fees to the business and intended deliverables, including the number of products, technical complexity, evidence availability, and transaction schedule. Readiness assessment, remediation leadership, and an external sell-side report are distinct scopes; fees are agreed before work begins.
Tell us where you are in the sale or fundraising process, what buyers or investors are likely to question, and when you need to be ready. We will help define the right assessment and preparation scope.
